Implemen’ng)Inclusive)ICTs · Why!Cell!Broadcastfor!Public!Warning?! Characterisc ’ SMS’...
Transcript of Implemen’ng)Inclusive)ICTs · Why!Cell!Broadcastfor!Public!Warning?! Characterisc ’ SMS’...
Implemen'ng Inclusive ICTs Mobile Cell Broadcas/ng for Public
Warning and Commercial Use
Natasha Udu-‐gama Disaster Communica/ons Session
Second India Disaster Management Conference 6 November 2009
This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Canada and the Department for International Development, UK.
“Today even mobile telephones could be used as an effec/ve medium to provide early warning and thus save lives and property”.
-‐-‐ Nobel Laureate, R.K. Pachauri, while addressing the 5th convoca/on of the Dhirubhai Ambani Ins/tute of Informa/on and Communica/on Technology (DA-‐IICT) in January 2009, highlighted the need for ICTs in dealing with natural disasters and other weather-‐related events that pose a threat to human life and property.
Disasters are no comparison between India and Maldives!
Overview India (1980-‐2008) Maldives (1987-‐2007)
No. of events 395 4
No. of people killed 139,393 102
Average killed per year 4,807 5
No. of people affected 1,506,794,740 53,012
Average affected per year 51,958, 439 2,524
Economic Damage (US x 1,000)
45,184,830 506,100
Economic Damage per year (US x 1,000)
1,558,098 24,100
Adapted from: www.preventionweb.net.
The Problem
• Natural hazards are causing disasters in much of the world due to poor knowledge access. Knowledge before, during and a_er the event must transfer seamlessly between those in the know to those who need to know.
Why improve knowledge access?
• People need knowledge so that they can prevent the nega?ve impact of hazards and to make informed decisions on daily ac/vi/es.
• We now have the means of reaching a broad swathe of people through mobile phones.
• Cell broadcast is a built-‐in technology that can disseminate knowledge to large groups of people quickly and efficiently.
The study
• The Telecom Authority of the Maldives (TAM) requested this study in its quest for an effec/ve public warning system that may be integrated into a comprehensive informa/on system for commercial use.
• The LIRNEasia research on cell broadcast would allow TAM and other stakeholders to make an informed decision on whether to implement a CB system.
Objec/ve of the study:
To inves)gate pre-‐condi)ons in the Maldives that would make it feasible to implement cell broadcas)ng within a na)onal public warning system, and, concurrently, evaluate the use of
cell broadcas)ng for commercial use.
What is Cell Broadcas/ng (CB)? • The ability to send a single text/binary message to be distributed to mul/ple phones within a “cell”
• Originally designed as one mechanism for the offering of loca'on-‐based services
• It is a standard feature on GSM networks as well as on IS95 CDMA networks
• Essen/ally, it is a /mely and efficient means of pushing out a message to an en/re cell area without the lag /mes associated with SMS, which are queued
• It is a one-‐to-‐many mode of communica/on, unlike SMS, which is in essence a one-‐to-‐one mode
SMS vs. Cell Broadcast
SMS Cell Broadcas?ng
Messages are sent point-‐to-‐point Messages are sent point-‐to-‐area
SMS sender is a known en/ty Unconfirmed push service
User-‐based. SMS provides no loca/on-‐based informa/on
Loca/on-‐based push service
Store and forward service Messages are not stored unless the user chooses
140-‐160 characters in length 93 characters
Poor Security. No indica/on that a message is generated by a legi/mate authority
Good security. No way for an outsider to generate a CB message
Intense commercial use. SMS is traceable making billing simple
Liile commercial interest. However, above Channel 100 the operator can bill for service.
No priority message feature Messages are displayed in real /me
Findings from Maldivian Operators
• Only 2 operators – Dhiraagu and Wataniya
• Primarily interested in marke?ng and adver?sing uses of CB.
• Liile in-‐depth inves/ga/on of cell broadcast = poor grasp of its capabili?es.
Drawbacks from Maldivian Operators
• CB will have to be ac/vated; no commercial license right now
• “Limited” CB message capacity
• GSM signals cannot go beyond the 25-‐35km distance from the tower
No regulatory approval to explore CB in depth to date
Why Cell Broadcast for Public Warning? Characteris?c SMS CB
Mobile Number Dependency
Dependent. Specific numbers must be input
Independent.
Loca?on Dependency Independent. Only registered numbers will be no/fied
Dependent. All numbers in a cell area will be no/fied.
Message Type Sta/c messages sent to pre-‐registered numbers.
Tailored messages can be sent based on alert levels.
Bi-‐direc?onality Yes Yes, through embedded numbers or URLs
Conges?on and delay Yes, because of queuing. No, dedicated channels.
Message Length 140-‐160 char.; up to 5X 93 char.; up to 15X
Security Poor authen/city Good security
Service Barring No barring Limited, service must be on
Recep?on Yes Limited
Delivery Confirma?on Yes, sender can request Only if number/URL within
Repe??on Rate None 2 sec – 32 min intervals
Other Recommended Uses for CB in Maldives
• Loca/on-‐based informa/on • Events (i.e. sports, etc.) • Service and airport informa/on
• Adver/sing (adver/sers can have their own channel; 60,000+ logical channels available) – Subscrip/on op/ons must be available
• Tourist informa/on
• Islamic informa/on (call for prayer, etc.)
• Mobile banking
Factors to consider for cell broadcast: Maldives vs. India
Maldives India
Telecom operators very small Many and large telecom operators
No ac/vated CBCs CBCs ac/vated (i.e. Cell/ck), CB companies ac/ve and available in-‐country (i.e. BSNL, Hutchison)
Liile to no knowledge of CB Extensive technological know-‐how on CB and complementary technologies
Limited number of applicable uses of CB
Numerous poten/ally applicable uses of CB
Few exis/ng complementary warning systems (i.e. TETRAnet)
Plenty of complementary warning systems (i.e. INCOIS, etc.)
Next steps: Make it a government priority!
• Operators are more concerned about revenue.
• Government needs to reach everyone always. (ci?zens, tourists, etc.)
• Government involvement will promote homogeneity (i.e. handset standardiza?on).
• Government can provide security (i.e. credible informa?on source).